Reds Manager Brushes Off Lawsuit

Atlanta — The Cincinnati Reds were not talking about the lawsuit filed by a woman who says she was sexually assaulted by right-hander Alfredo Simon.

When asked on Friday how he is proceeding with Simon, Reds manager Bryan Price said “I think we’ll probably just keep all that stuff to ourselves.”

“That’s how we’ll handle that,” Price said. “It seems to be more of our family business than putting that out, for me.”

The woman, identified as Jane Doe, filed the $15 million civil lawsuit Thursday in D.C. Superior Court. She claims Simon sexually assaulted her in a Washington hotel a year ago when the Reds were in town to play the Nationals.

Simon (3-1) ranks third in the National League with his 1.30 ERA. He is fifth with his opponents’ .172 batting average.

Simon, 32, pitched only in relief the last two seasons with Cincinnati and has been a pleasant surprise in the Reds’ rotation this season. He played for the Baltimore Orioles for parts of four seasons from 2008-11 before being claimed off waivers by the Reds in 2012.

He is not scheduled to pitch in the Reds’ three-game weekend series against the Atlanta Braves.

A copy of the suit was obtained by WMAR-TV in Baltimore.

The lawsuit says the night of April 27, 2013, the then 27-year-old woman and friends went to a nightclub and were approached by a man claiming to be Simon’s manager.

The man escorted the woman to a table where Simon and another ballplayer were sitting and introduced her, according to the lawsuit.

The woman and Simon left about 2:30 a.m. in a cab and rode to the hotel where the Reds were staying, according to the court document, which also alleges the woman was intoxicated and unable to consent to sex.

The suit alleges that Simon started to kiss the woman, but began to get rough with her, pinning her down on her stomach and grabbing her hair.

Simon forced the woman to have sex with him, the suit alleges.

The woman, who was in pain and bleeding, went to a hospital later that morning for sexual assault exam, the suit says. She reported the attack to D.C. police on May 2.